118th Rifle Division

The 118th Rifle Division was thrice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army, first as part of the prewar buildup of forces. The first formation was based on the shtat (table of organization and equipment) of September 13, 1939. It was based at Kostroma through its early existence. After the German invasion in June 1941 it was rushed to the front as part of the 41st Rifle Corps and arrived at the Pskov Fortified Area between July 2–4. Under pressure from the 4th Panzer Group the division commander, Maj. Gen. Nikolai Mikhailovich Glovatsky, requested permission on July 8 to retreat east across the Velikaya River. There is some question if he received written orders and in any case the retreat fell into chaos due to a prematurely-blown bridge. Glovatskii was arrested on July 19, sentenced to death a week later and shot on August 3. The battered division had by then moved north to Gdov and came under command of 8th Army but could not be rebuilt due to a lack of replacements and on September 27 it was disbanded.

A new division began forming in the Gorki Oblast of Moscow Military District in January 1942 based on the shtat of December 6, 1941 and was soon numbered as the second formation of the 118th. It spent a full six months in formation and training before it was assigned to the 31st Army in Western Front. It was soon committed to action in the summer offensive to eliminate the German forces in the Rzhev–Sychyovka area and contributed to the liberation of Zubtsov in late August. The division saw limited action in Operation Mars in November–December and in March 1943 was one of the first units to enter Rzhev as it was evacuated by German 9th Army. The division had performed well enough that it was redesignated as the 85th Guards Rifle Division in April, serving under the 10th Guards Army.

The third 118th Rifle Division was raised in mid-May 1943 in Southern Front under the shtat of December 10, 1942, based on a rifle brigade. It was immediately assigned to 28th Army and remained under that headquarters until November, fighting through the Donbas and towards the lower Dniepr and winning a battle honor following the protracted battle for Melitopol in late October. After an abortive attempt to force its way into the Crimea it was transferred to the 9th Rifle Corps of 5th Shock Army and then moved to 57th Army with that Corps in the spring of 1944. After the Soviet offensive stalled along the Dniestr River the division was moved to the Reserve of the Supreme High Command in June before being reassigned to the 5th Guards Army where it mostly served in the 34th Guards Rifle Corps for the duration of the war. In early August it entered the Sandomierz bridgehead across the Vistula and remained there until the start of the Vistula-Oder Offensive in January 1945 when it broke out and advanced through Poland and into Germany with the rest of 1st Ukrainian Front. During the Berlin operation the 5th Guards advanced toward Dresden and following the German surrender the 118th was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for its part in the late April battles southeast of that city. The division was disbanded in 1946.